A 22-year-old woman who was reported missing from her home since Saturday has been found dead.

Rayna Prasad of Old Namara Settlement in Khalsa Road, Nasinu was found by a farmer along Muanikau Road in Suva yesterday morning.

According to Police, Prasad was last seen at a nearby canteen in the Settlement.

The festive season has turned tragic for this Prasad family.

The deceased’s father Rakesh Prasad says he last spoke to his daughter on Saturday morning before he left for work.

He says before leaving home he had asked his daughter whether she was going anywhere and she had said no.

Prasad adds he called his daughter at around 10am but she didn’t answer and four hours later he decided to come home to check.

“I came home and started calling her. The doors were open and her handbag and money was all inside the house. I called on her phone again but it didn’t go through. I asked a neighbor who said that she spoke to Rayna and after a while she went towards the canteen.”

Prasad says he kept waiting for her and at around 8pm he decided to lodge a complaint at the Police station.

He adds their search ended yesterday afternoon after he received a call from the Police station.

“They called me and said they discovered a body and for me to come and identify it. The body was hard to identify as the face and the legs were burnt. I went and saw a thread on her hand and I knew it was her my daughter.”

Meanwhile, Director Operations ACP, Maretino Qiolevu says investigation is still underway.

“Her body was discovered by a farmer who plants at his garden in Muanikau. That was around early Monday morning. Her body was found there and how it came there nobody knows.  So right now investigation is still ongoing. The body is at the mortuary awaiting post mortem.”

22-year-old Rayna Prasad was a final year USP student and would have graduated in April.

He father who is a taxi driver says she used to tell him that once she started working he would no longer have to work.

The family is now awaiting for answers on what happened to Rayna.